Today was
the scheduled date for the closing, in the city of Sipopo—near
Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea—of a summit that in fact
ended yesterday, in which the prestigious and supposedly
humanitarian U.S.-based Leon Sullivan Foundation has allowed
itself to be fooled by a regime whose least concern is its own
citizens’ human rights.

The summit
was promoted under the portentous title “Human Rights, Democracy
and Citizenship”, although the members of the Leon Sullivan
Foundation know all too well that in Equatorial Guinea there is
no democracy, nor the slightest respect either for human rights
or for the country’s citizens. For whatever reason, this
foundation has come to disguise—without scruple or shame—the
face of a regime that tenaciously continues to persecute
dissidents, and that the UN Human Rights Council and all human
rights organizations on the planet continue to pinpoint as a
regular violator of the fundamental rights of its citizens.

If you
doubt it, go and ask the lawyer Ponciano Mbomio, the
engineer Florencio Manguire, or the opposition leader and
doctor Wenceslao Mansogo.

The members
of the Sullivan Foundation should know that, while they had a
marvelous time with President Obiang in the newly created city
of Sipopo, the immense majority of the people of Equatorial
Guinea continue to suffer in poverty and misery. They should not
leave the country without a tour of the poorest neighborhoods of
Campo Yaunde, Semu, Lamper, La Paz, etc., in Malabo; or Ikunde,
Mbangan, Ncolombong, Nvamguele, etc., in Bata, so that they have
a taste of the daily life of the average Guinean citizen.

The members
of the Sullivan Foundation should not leave Equatorial Guinea
without asking the reasons for the incarceration in the dark
jail of Black Beach, of Alejandro Nguema Nve and
Diosdado Abeso Monsuy, or the incarceration in Bata of
Mariano Mico Ntutumu, Baltasar Ndumu Ngomo,
Buenaventura Nsue Ndong, José Edjang Nsue, Teófilo
Ona Akieme, etc.; they should not leave without interviewing
them.

The members
of the Sullivan Foundation should not leave Equatorial Guinea
without asking President Obiang how many seats the opposition
party has in the national parliament, and how many members of
political parties other than the official regime party are free
to exercise their right to work in Equatorial Guinea.

The members
of the Sullivan Foundation should not leave the country without
first asking President Obiang when the next election will take
place in Equatorial Guinea, what role the opposition parties and
civil society will be allowed to play in the preparation for
this election, what organization controls and presides over the
election, how the country’s census is carried out, how many
international observers have been invited and where they come
from, and how many free radio and TV stations exist where
citizens can exercise their freedom of expression.

The members
of the Sullivan Foundation should ask President Obiang when the
last time was that he sat down with opposition members to
discuss the country’s problems, and how often he meets them.

If the
members of the Sullivan Foundation leave Equatorial Guinea
without fulfilling any of these wishes of ours, and without
coming to some personal sense of what the Equatorial Guinea of
their good friend President Obiang is really like, these members
should return to their powerful country and their wealthy homes
with the conviction that they have successfully insulted the
dignity of the poor citizens of Equatorial Guinea, who would
have benefited greatly from the money the country invested in
organizing the summit, in order to relieve their hunger and
cover their basic necessities. They may return to the United
States with the assurance that they have successfully made fun
of these Africans who live in poverty in a rich country, and
taken their money, given to them by the supremely rich
dictatorial president of this country: the same
president-dictator who is now doing everything possible to have
his elder son succeed him in this monarchical republic, a son
who never tires of extorting the country’s population simply
because he is the president’s son. He is doing so at this very
moment, with the money that he supposedly obtains to offer zinc
roofs to the poor for their houses, or with his ghost
companies.

As the
members of the Sullivan Foundation are boarding the plane on the
return trip to their country, it would be good that they leave
asking themselves what they, and their costly summit, have
contributed to the lives of the Guinean people, so that when
they arrive, they can let the whole world know.